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Relief water released to quench Carnarvon crops

Carnarvon table grape grower Dom Condo says he needs more irrigation water for his crop to see out the season.

Olivia Garnett

Emergency irrigation water has been released to Carnarvon horticulture growers, in Western Australia's Gascoyne region, to see their crops through to the end of the season.

The Department of Water has made 1.5 gigalitres of irrigation water available for growers to draw on as an emergency measure.

The Gascoyne River hasn't had a strong flow since the floods of 2010-11 and the only rain since then has washed saline into the system.

The irrigation water allocation is managed by the Department of Water. The Water Corporation owns the infrastructure and the Gascoyne Water Co-operative manages the distribution of irrigation water to growers.

With recent temperatures exceeding 40 degrees and an estimated $8 million worth of table grapes hanging on vines in Carnarvon, growers say it's crucial the crops get a drink.

Dom Condo has around 50 hectares of table grapes in plantations.

He says he's never seen it so dry.

"We've been here 18 years, the 19th year now, and this is the first time it has got really critical," he said.

"We're trying to finish off the crop and get them into market. The grapes need water now to get sugar up before we harvest them.

"The whole industry needs probably another 400,000 kilolitres to scrape through the season."

Growers like Dom Condo would like water from next year's allocation to be available now.

Another issue playing on his mind is the cost of pumping the water using diesel generators.

Growers are calling for the northern borefield to be electrified to make the overall price of water cheaper.

"If we've got some extra bores out there, it's just going to take the pressure off and they've really got to plan for the next time something like this happens," Mr Condo said.

The 1.5 gigalitres of water, enough to fill the Subiaco football stadium in Perth to the brim one and a half times, will be available to growers to draw out in the coming weeks.

This is the portion of the aquifer that was affected by the recent saline flows and it's now sitting east of the Bibawarra crossing.

Making relief water available to growers during periods of low aquifer storage is nothing new, but using saline water is.

Regional manager for the mid-west Gascoyne, Adam Maskew, is confident it won't affect the long-term viability of the water source.

"The records that we have is that this is a one-in-50 to a one-in-100-year event. Never before have we seen the saline water intrude into the areas used by the growers in this way.

"It is a high risk strategy, but the science we have is strong and we're very confident we can manage the impact on the aquifer and the environment.

"To assist the growers, the Minister for Water is allowing growers to take water up to 1,200 milligrams per litre. At that level, it will allow us to still manage the saline intrusion."

Mr Maskew says growers will need to apply for a new licence to do that.

"They will need to bring the water into their irrigation system and mix it with better quality water to ensure that they only apply water below 1,000 milligrams per litre to their soils."

Regarding requests for access to future water allocations, Minister for Water Terry Redman provided the following in a statement:

"The reality is there will be long-term impacts from overdrawing and this will worsen the quality of water left in the aquifers.

"The aquifer is surrounded by hyper-saline water and there is a risk of permanent damage from infiltration.

"The southern bore field is at its lowest ever levels and extraction is at its highest levels ever.